摘要

随着世界经济合作与交流的不断增多,英语商务信函成了一种便宜而有效的沟通媒介。人们不可能跟自己的贸易伙伴一一亲自会面协商，同时又需要将贸易伙伴做出的各种承诺变成有据可查的文字记录。我们给贸易伙伴的每一封信都代表着自己所在公司的形象，显示着公司的水平和实力。一封礼貌有加、措辞得体的商务信函可以帮助一个公司建构起良好的商业形象，进而做成一笔笔好生意；反之,一封礼貌欠佳、用语不当的信函则会给一个公司带来负面的评价，使之弄砸了生意不说，还有可能毁了公司苦心经营的形象。可见，礼貌在商务信函中的作用不容忽视。本文通过大量实例的比较分析，论述英语商务信函中礼貌原则的具体功能及运用，以及坚持在英语商务信函中运用礼貌原则的必要性。

关键词：英语商务信函；礼貌；礼貌原则
 
Abstract

English business letters have become one of the cheap and effective media of communications with the increasing worldwide economic cooperation and exchanges. It is impossible that people meet all their trading partners face-to-face, and we often need to make all kinds of trade partners’ commitments into written records which can be checked. Each letter that we write to our trading partners represents a company’s image and shows its strength. A courtesy and descent business letter can help to build a favorable business image for the company and do business better. However, a letter without courtesy can not only lead to the failure of the business, but also destroy the image which the company has built up for years. Therefore, the courtesy of business letters is very important. Through systematic analysis and comparison of English business correspondences, this paper states the functions of politeness principles in English business letters，and it also presents the principles of politeness in English business letters should be adhered to.

Key words: English business letters; principles; politeness

1 Introduction

English business letter is one of the main tools for us to exchange information during the business affairs. We have depended on words to communicate since they had been created, for their special characteristics of passing on information across time and space. The daily letter we use is the words systematically organized to express our ideas and thoughts. Since English is an international language of global village, how to write English business letters with adequate politeness principles is an indispensable skill for daily business work. Furthermore, the inability to write an effective business letter will doom those who want to represent themselves positively to their customers, competitors and employers.